Race Report

Spartan Season Opener “Picture Perfect”

By: Michelle Sprague

Spartan Speedway kicked off its 2006 racing season under cloudless
skies on April 28th. A good crowd on the beautiful, but chilly, Friday
evening was on hand to welcome back the competitors in the CARQUEST
racing series. The Holiday Powersports Pony Stock division drew for
position, with Tina Anderson and Randy Kretzinger Jr. starting on the
pole for their 20 lap feature. At the drop of the green, those ponies
were three- and four-wide going into turn one and through turn two.
George Wyers led lap one with John Ward already looking for a way
around him. Jimmy Scavarda snuck around them both and took the lead on
lap five. Mark Garland and Terry Winstead stayed in the hunt as
Scavarda and Wyers made their way into the rear of the field on lap
seven. Wyers continued to work on Scavarda on lap 13 as they worked
their way through heavier traffic on the high side. Lap 15 saw a great
battle shaping up between Ward and Garland for third, as they raced
side by side for the position. Garland got caught up in traffic as Ward
pulled away, and at the line, it was Scavarda, Wyers, Ward, Garland,
and Jason Brunn making up the top five. Heat wins were awarded to Wyers
and Garland.

Congratulations go out to Perry Davenport on the birth of his new baby
and also scoring the number one qualifying position with a time of
13.782 for the WMMQ 94.9 Classic Rock MI Modified division. Bill Butler
and Chris Ozanich started on the front row for the start of their
40-lap feature. Ozanich jumped out to the early lead at the green flag
with Butler, Bud Perry, Dick LaPratt, Jason Parish in hot pursuit.
Caution on lap three sent Butler to the rear of the field, and on the
restart, it was Ozanich and Perry breaking away from the lead pack to
battle for first. Lap five saw Perry looking high and low for a way
around Ozanich as caution came out for a second time, with Parish being
sent to the rear. On the restart, it was a drag race between Ozanich
and Perry, with Perry making his way around Ozanich on lap seven. With
Perry running away, it was Ozanich, LaPratt, Weiler, and Davenport all
running nose to tail on lap eight. Larry Wallace caught the tail end of
the lead pack and was closing in by lap 10. Perry opened up a full
straight away lead, with Davenport beginning his march up through the
top five. Lap 16 saw Davenport move into fourth behind LaPratt, and
immediately went to work on LaPratt for third. Davenport moved to the
outside of Ozanich and took away second on lap 25. By lap 30, Perry had
opened up a 5 ½ second lead over Davenport, as Wallace had reeled in
the top five and went to work on them. Dick Maurer spun in turn four,
bringing out the caution and effectively wiped out Perry’s huge lead.
Parish had quietly been marching up through the field and was sitting
in seventh when the caution flew. After the restart, with 10 laps to
go, it was Perry, Davenport, Ozanich, LaPratt, and Weiler, with Wallace
and Parish sitting just outside the top five. Parish made his way
around Wallace on lap 35, while Perry and Davenport ran away from the
field. At the checker, it was Perry, Davenport, Parish, Ozanich, and
LaPratt. Heats were won by Stan Perry and Larry Wallace.

The Performance Automotive Northwest Street Stock division had a light
driver turnout, probably due to the fact the some major rule changes
were implemented over the winter. Of the eight Streets that were in
competition, four were of the template body style, while the others
opted for stock bodies. Competition was fierce in the heat race, with
Ron Heeney and Dane Long getting together, leaving Heeney unable to
return for the feature. Jamie Feguer was on the tear when engine
problems sidelined him for the evening. The 25-lap feature saw Nate
Moon and Damon Place on the front row and at the drop of the green,
Moon jumped into the lead, followed by Damon Place, Scott Sigman, Bob
Flotka, and Dane Long. Sigman took over the lead on lap four with Long
challenging for the lead by lap seven. Caution for Flotka and Sigman
saw Flotka sent to the end of the line. On the restart of lap 13, Long
and Sigman broke away from the pack, followed by Moon, Place, and
Foltka. Long opened up a pretty good lead over Sigman, while Place and
Flotka made their way around Moon for third and fourth. Sigman went
high in turn four, giving Place the opportunity to slip under him to
take second position away on the last lap. At the stripe, it was Long,
Place, Sigman, Flotka, and Moon. Place scored his first heat win
earlier in the evening.
One of the most entertaining segments of the night was the Pony Stock
Figure 8. Rick Richards, Randy Kretzinger Jr., Tina Anderson, John
Ward, Terry Winstead, Jimmy Scavarda, Keith Holden, and Joe Bates made
up the field for their 15-lap feature. John Ward sprinted his way into
the lead and continued to lead through lap five. As the field began to
spread out, the race became very interesting at the intersection. Ward
slowed on lap 7 to allow slower traffic to clear the X while Scavarda
barreled on through to take the lead. It was nip and tuck for those two
throughout the race and the battle for first was on again by lap 11.
Bates, Richards, and Winstead were watching the dog fight unfold ahead
of them on lap 12 when Ward ducked to the inside of Scavarda to regain
the lead. Lap 13 saw Ward hesitate again at the cross with Scavarda
taking the inside line into first again. Ward drove past Scavarda on
lap 14 to take the win on lap 15. At the line, the top five was Ward,
Scavarda, Bates, Richards, and Anderson.

A special thank-you to the two Pure Stocks who gave the Spartan fans a
little taste of what’s in store for this new division. Congratulations
go out to Wayne “Daniel” Parkhurst for sweeping the heat and feature.
The car looks and runs great!